Centric Cities Podcast

This episode is the first of a 3-part mini series recorded with 3 medical students from University College London on Covid-19 and the vaccine process. The vaccine has been a disputed and politicised issue, and to our belief this could have been avoided with better communication, better relationships with medicine and decolonised frameworks of healthcare. This episode tries to explain what a vaccine is, what the Covid-19 vaccines are, how they work. Our 3 brilliant speakers who gave their time were Selina Aziz Meryam Benaichouche Manasvini Moni We hope you enjoy this show and if you believe in supporting independent research please become a Patreon supporter for the price of a fancy coffee per month - www.patreon.com/centriclab

This episode is a special summary from a recent Urban Health Council talk and roundtable titled 'Living Symbiotic with Nature'. We are delighted to be joined by JOSINA CALLISTE (https://twitter.com/Jo_zinaC) Josina runs Land In Our Name (LION) a grassroots Black-led collective committed to reparations in Britain by connecting land and climate justice with racial justice. JAKE ROBINSON (https://twitter.com/_jake_robinson) An ecologist and interdisciplinary PhD researcher. He is currently investigating nature-based interventions and the relationship between the environment, the microbiome, and human health. MARIE MÜLLER (https://twitter.com/marie_ahoi) Marie is a PhD candidate at University College London on the Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme for the Ecological Study of the Brain and part of the Centric Lab research team. CHARLOTTE KEMP (https://twitter.com/kemp_char) Charlotte is a neuroscientist and head of research at The Fred Company a research and production studio with a focus on immersive te

This episode we’re joined by Priya Shah from BAME in Property. The conversation centres around the additional burden people of colour or those from marginalised background face through work stress from the real estate industry and the need to decolonise its behaviours, frameworks and language. This show was made possible by our Patreon subscribers who we thank dearly…if you do enjoy this show and want to support its production and gain access to the Urban Health Council head over to www.Patreon.com/centriclab and help however you can. Priya's information: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Priyalala93 Work: https://www.bameinproperty.com/ Our information: www.thecentriclab.com www.urbanhealthcouncil.com www.patreon.com/centriclab

This is a new format introducing audio summaries from the roundtables held through the Urban Health Council. We have taken snippets from the conversation and weaved them together into a short summary. This conversation was on the theme of Air Pollution x Race x Health. In December 2020 a UK court ruled that air pollution made a material contribution to the death of 9-year old Ella Kissi-Debrah, marking her the first person in the UK to have air pollution as their cause of death. This is technically game changing, creating the road for health and environmental justice. Specifically, it should lead to changes in the living environments of Black, Asian, and Indigenous communities in the UK and US who are disproportionately exposed to air pollution. This roundtable will be discussing and covering the following + How air pollution affects all of our biological functions. + Over 20 years of data and history of air pollution as environmental racism. + How the exposure of environmental racism leads to disparitie

Magali is one of the 3rd cohort of Public Practice associates and has been placed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she is Project Lead for Placemaking. She will be leading a transformational approach to public realm as an integral part of the planning process for Great Ormond Street's new Children's Cancer Centre. Her work at The Children's Trust, which provides rehabilitation, education and community services for children with brain injury, focuses on assisting them with looking at their masterplan. Magali is studying at the London School of Economics, carrying out an MSc in Cities, which complements her Public Practice placement, and is a step towards following her passion for cities, and spaces in between buildings, especially in relation to children and older people. Previously Magali worked for 14 years at Marks Barfield Architects where she was a director and specialised in education projects, leading a successful education team. This is a great conversation on data analysis, the lived experi

This interview is with Kate Langford, The Impact on Urban Health’s Programme Director for health effects of air pollution. A ten-year programme focusing on mitigating the disproportionate effect that exposure to poor air quality has on the health and wellbeing of those most susceptible to it. The Impact on Urban Health is a specialist division part of Guy's and St Thomas' Charity. For over 500 years, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity has been a constant in London’s ever-changing landscape, at the leading edge of health. Their endowment has allowed them to take a long-term view to help tackle the big health challenges of today and tomorrow. They invest and use assets, from property to a large arts collection, to produce in come that transforms lives locally in South London and in cities around the world. Before joining the Charity, Kate worked at Innovation Unit, a public sector consultancy, where she led their work in health and social care, applying design-led methodologies to solve complex social issues. She s

Part 3 of our conversations with the CASH community is with journalist Jo Griffin who has been reporting what's been taking place for the Guardian. Jo is a journalist/writer with more than 20 years' experience in national newspapers in the UK, including nine years on staff at the Guardian. Her articles have been published by the Guardian, Observer, BBC, Al Jazeera, Evening Standard, Big Issue, Middle East Eye, FT, LA Times and Reuters, among many others. Jo has also reported on several films and contributed to programmes on BBC Radio 4 and broadcasters overseas. Her main interests are social justice, human rights, criminal justice, global development, Latin America. In this episode we discuss with Jo the important role media has in not only reporting what's taking place but the use of language when covering issues of injustice.

Meet Sufiyan Abdul-Qayum, one of the UK's youngest clean air campaigners at 19 years old, who's been campaigning since he was 16. Sufiyan is part of CASH, Clean Air for Southall & Hayes, who are a community group from west London fighting against toxic chemicals being leaked into the air they breathe. This conversation focuses on Sufiyan's experience and interaction with urban development; + Interacting with public authorities + Bringing communities together + Responding to London's housing crisis, and + How it has shaped his views on urbanisation. To support Sufiyan and CASH please head to their website: https://southallandhayescleanair.org.uk/ Become a Patreon member to support this podcast and get additional access and content to the work from our lab: http://patreon.com/centriclab

This episode is the first of a three part series in which we interview 3 integral members of the Clean Air for Southall & Hayes (CASH) campaign group based in west London, close to Heathrow Airport. The group started in 2017 when neighbours began noticing a putrid, gasoline like smell in the air and people reported breathing problems. They also noticed that this coincided with construction works beginning on a contested former gasworks site close to their homes. What has developed is a case of environmental injustice and suffering for one of London's communities. It highlights the failures of national and local government regulations for construction and community protection, as well as the apparent community neglect or care in favour of business interests. This conversation is with one of the campaign's leads Angela Fonso. Please support the CASH campaign however you can: https://southallandhayescleanair.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/CASHcampaigners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlrjWw88YDI&t=3346s We ca

The Centric Lab team come together to discuss the difference between data and the lived experience, namely around health. As authorities clamour for more data as the route to success it feels that decisions become determined by what data is collected rather than what is actually happening. Decisions are being made by data rather than a framework to solve the problem using data. It's very easy to make associations by data and so we sat down to cover how the overt nature of quantification leads to inequities, particularly in health. If you like our research and work and believe in supporting work like it please donate whatever you can per month via Patreon.com/centriclab. Any questions/ideas please email us at hello@thecentriclab.com.

This episode features the team discussing our Urban Health Index, a visualisation tool for showing how areas compare for their levels of biological inequality. The conversation is led by Araceli Camargo who was the inventor of the tool alongside Elahi Hossain, our long standing researcher and author of the term biological inequality, and Dan Akinola-Odusola who led the development of the digital tool and all data analysis. We designed the urban health index to start giving data and evidence led answers to the health inequities that are rife in cities. It's there for policy makers, health professionals and built environment practitioners the insights they need to improve systemic health outcomes. Check out London's Index here - https://www.thecentriclab.com/urban-health-index By signing up to our Patreon page and donating whatever you can per month you get these podcasts a week in advance, access to our reports, discounts to workshops and events and support the lab's mission - www.patreon.com/centriclab.

In this episode we talk with a Carl Brooks who’s a UK director of sustainability at the global real estate services firm CBRE. Our conversation focuses on the impact of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance, and what this is meaning to how large commercial real estate assets and portfolios are managed given the impending climate crises and rising concerns on health. There’s a long way to go with ESG and it has its critics but it’s also a hugely effective tool at getting change to happen. --- Please do support the production of this podcast and the non-profit intersectional health research our scientists fo via patreon.com/centriclab. Follow us on Twitter / @TheCentricLab Find Carl on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-brooks-76341517/ For more on the Urban Health Council please head to https://www.thecentriclab.com/urban-health-council

This episode centres on a conversation with Kushal Sood, a human rights solicitor working with marginalised groups, particularly those deprived of their liberty. We recently supported a successful case of his in rights to grant a dying man compassionate release from prison, which we’ll cover in this show. Somehow in society we’ve accepted the dehumanisation of ourselves. This is seen evidently in the prison system where people’s dignity is stripped away. Our conversation with Kushal focuses on abolition of the prison system in its current form with our focus on the inhumane health impacts it causes. In his own words you can hear Kushal rant on Twitter via https://twitter.com/KKSoodLaw & his LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/kushal-sood-65b612129/. You can find us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TheCentricLab and do drop us an email at hello@thecentriclab.com if you have any questions, ideas or comments. Thanks!

In this episode the Centric team come together to discuss the background, results and learnings from our recent study: COVID-19 & Biological Inequality; a London data study. For more information on the study please follow this link https://www.thecentriclab.com/covid-19-poverty-a-london-data-study The Centric team on this episode are: Araceli Camargo, Sarah Aliko, Daniel Akinola-Odusola, and Josh Artus. We're on a journey for Health Justice, using our research fields of neuroscience and cities to make change. Get in touch if you want to join our mission hello@thecentriclab.com.

COVID-19 & Biological Inequality; a London Data Study ABSTRACT It is now well understood that poorly designed and planned environments heighten the risk of health issues due to systemic deprivations and stressors. Our recent paper investigates how COVID-19 is interacting with these environments and their communities, specifically Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the London. As COVID-19 continues to spread through the British population a trend has emerged, poorer ethnic minority communities are the ones being most affected, both in hospitalisations and death rates. This is an audio extraction from a virtual Townhall we hosted where we invited members of the public to ask questions and interact with us. For more information please visit the study: https://www.thecentriclab.com/covid-19-poverty-a-london-data-study

In this episode we're joined by Tom Lindsay, Senior Strategy Delivery Manager at 100 Resilient Cities, a civic and social organisation powered by the Rockefeller Foundation helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that a growing part of the 21st Century. Tom joined us on Wednesday 15th May to share his views on the impact research is having as it impacts policy to ensure that cities can adapt in time to protect day to day life. For more info check out www.100resilientcities.org. https://twitter.com/100ResCities https://twitter.com/TomCLindsay Any questions drop us a line at hello@thecentriclab.com.

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Daniel Slade, Research Officer at Royal Town Planning Institute. Dr. Slade leads the Institute's work on climate change, resilience, and climate justice. Daniel joined us on Wednesday 15th May to share his views on what improvements are needed from local planning to ensure that cities can adapt in time to protect day to day life. You can find info on Daniel here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielslade/ https://twitter.com/_DSlade https://www.rtpi.org.uk/ Do leave a review if you can, it all helps. To get in touch please email us at hello@thecentriclab.com. Thanks!

On 15th May Centric Lab are partnering with [S]City, Connected Places Catapult, and University College London for a 1/2 day conference on climate change and its impact on daily life in cities. | Cities for Future Humans | There is no greater challenge to our habitats than climate change. This man-made phenomena is creating social, biological, geo-political and economic challenges, which at the moment our cities are not equipped to handle or solve. A city that cannot respond to climate changes from a human lens is destined to exacerbate human problems in an era where we are collectively trying to create solutions. This podcast is the first of a short series with the programmers and contributors to the conference. www.thecentriclab.com

Episode 16 is with Sam Markey, who as the Future Cities Catapult's Head of Executive Office commissioned the ‘Neuroscience for Cities’ playbook, and it’s lead author our very own Araceli Camargo who is head of R&D for Centric. The purpose of this session was to invite them on to explain in their own words why such a venture was taken and where it’s direction lies. A first of its kind, the ‘Neuroscience for Cities Playbook’ is a close collaboration between Future Cities Catapult, Centric Lab and University College London. It brings forward a framework of how neuroscience research can be put into practice in cities. This has been presented as a set of new tools, methodologies and strategies for organisations big and small, to adopt neuroscience insights into their supply chain.  ------- For further contact; Sam's twitter handle: @SamMarkey Araceli's twitter handle: @aracelicamargo_ A direct link for the 20% discount to CityX is - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cityx-the-future-cities-expo-cityx2018-tickets-4

Episode 15 is with Robin Mazumder who's in London for the summer working with our scientific partners at UCL. We decided to record this podcast within a few hours so it's a little rough and ready but thanks to modern technology most things are possible! In it we discuss cycling and cities and what it represents to quality of life and its impacts on elements such as mental health and equity within a city. You can read more about Robin at his website - www.robinmazumder.com and via his twitter feed twitter.com/RobinMazumder. Do stay in touch with The Centric Lab via our website, thecentriclab.com, via twitter twitter.com/TheCentricLab or just say hello via email if you have any questions hello@thecentriclab.com.